I'm seeing more and more people on the street wearing a smart watch. Like many of them, I have one and it is the Pebble Time. It is a little dated as compared to the newer models that are out in the market right now.

Besides Pebble, there are many other brands who are manufacturing smart watches such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Fossil and etc. With so many attractive products out in the market, it is tempting to ditch your conventional watches and jump on the trend to get a smart watch yourself. But do you actually need it?

I have my Pebble Time with me for more than six months now. I got it at a discounted price since the newer versions were in the process at that time. It syncs really well with my phone. You only need to pair it the first time and subsequently, it will automatically connect to your phone.

The OS is really easy to use and combined it with the buttons to scroll up and down your calendar and settings, you will find it very familiar to the Casio digital watches that most of us have. One of the benefits of Pebble or any smart watches is that you can change the watch face with themes that are available in their respective stores. Like mine, I chose the Nyan Cat that runs across my watch face non-stop.

My Pebble is really useful when receiving text messages when I am on the move. Without having to take out my phone while commuting in a crowded train, I am able to read the messages just by looking at it. You can use the preset replies to send quick replies to your friends or you can speak into the mic to have it type out your reply. I am fine with both as they all work well for me.

There was once where I left my phone at the back of the room while I was doing a presentation and it rang. It was in the silent mode and I knew it rang because there was an alert on my watch. This is one of the functions that I love about my Pebble. The notifications are really useful.

I listen to music a lot using my phone and to take it in and out of my bag or pocket to switch music is a chore. With the Pebble, I am able to play, pause and skip the music on my phone in a breeze. But the controls only work on native music applications on your phone or Spotify. I cannot do the same for Apple Music.

Verdict

I love my Pebble watch but after a few months of using it, I find myself returning to my conventional watches. I grew tired of having to charge my watch once every few days. This may seem like a small issue but it sort of affects my need to use it daily. Conventional watches are much simpler and I do not have to worry about whether there is enough juice in them before I wear it and head out.

Gradually, I also returned to using my phone to type my replies and since Pebble does not have support for Apple Music, I stopped relying on it for music as well. By the way, I already feedback to Pebble about the Apple Music support and hopefully they will do something about it.

So do you need a smart watch? The answer is no. You have a smartphone and a smart watch is basically an extension of what you already have. It is handy but you can live without it. It is more of a fashion accessory than something that can improve your productivity that your phone cannot.